al-Qawaid al-Usuliyya wal-Fiqhiyya al-Mutaalliqa bil-Muslim Ghayr al-Mujtahid
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar Kunuz Ishbilya lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
al-Qawaid al-Usuliyya wal-Fiqhiyya al-Mutaalliqa bil-Muslim Ghayr al-Mujtahid (Legal and Jurisprudential Maxims Pertaining to the Non-Mujtahid Muslim) is a treatise on Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory by the Saudi scholar Saad al-Shathri. The book is dedicated to identifying the principles of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and legal maxims (al-qawaid al-fiqhiyya) that directly apply to ordinary Muslims who have not attained the rank of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad).
Purpose and Scope
The author composed the work to address what he observed as an oversight among many legal theorists who focused primarily on the qualifications and methodology of the independent jurist (mujtahid) rather than the needs of the non-scholar (al-ammi). Al-Shathri emphasizes the relevance of these principles for Muslims residing in non-Muslim societies in the West, noting their need for legal guidance amid a relative scarcity of resident scholars and the challenges of navigating non-Islamic legal environments.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into an introduction, a preliminary chapter, and three main chapters:
- Preliminary Chapter (Tamhid): Discusses the general benefits of learning legal theory for the non-specialist, including earning religious reward for seeking knowledge, acquiring the tools to understand sacred texts and scholarly terminology, gaining precision in speech, and learning how and whom to ask when seeking legal rulings.
- Chapter One: Covers principles that guide the layman when encountering new situations, divided into three sections: the ruling on acting without prior knowledge of the legal status, the purpose and motive for complying with divine rulings, and the method of deriving legal rulings.
- Chapter Two: Examines eleven issues related to soliciting legal rulings (istifta'), including the etiquette of questioning a mufti, who is qualified to be asked, the binding nature of a fatwa once acted upon, how to proceed if the mufti's opinion changes, handling disagreements among multiple scholars, the absence of qualified jurists, following lenient opinions, seeking legal concessions (tatabbu al-rukhas), adhering to a specific legal school (tamadhhub), and repeating questions when circumstances recur.
- Chapter Three: Discusses eleven specific jurisprudential and theoretical topics concerning the layman, including understanding terminology used in fatwas, relations to Quranic variant readings (qiraat), prophetic actions, non-specialists issuing fatwas, flexible time-bound obligations (al-wajib al-muwassa), communal obligations (fard kifaya), discontinuing acts of worship after commencing them, the accountability of non-Muslims for subsidiary laws, lay interpretation of the Quran, reporting hadith by meaning (al-riwaya bil-mana), and maxims of direct utility to everyday practice.
Methodology and Publication
Al-Shathri adapted the presentation to suit non-specialists by omitting abstract disputes that offer little practical benefit, framing the discussions in contemporary terms, and citing classical legal sources for each point. The treatise was published in Saudi Arabia by Dar Kunuz Ishbilya.
Answer updated